New College Lanarkshire Join the Movement

Posted: 2019-02-25 15:11:46

Living Wage Scotland are delighted to welcome New College Lanarkshire to the Living Wage network in Scotland.

New College Lanarkshire is one of the largest colleges in Scotland and operates across Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire with campuses in Cumbernauld, Motherwell, Coatbridge, Kirkintilloch, Hamilton and Broadwood. It has more than 15,000 students enrolled on a mix of full-time, part-time, evening and commercial courses

The College’s Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at New College Lanarkshire, regardless of whether they are direct employees or third-party contracted staff, receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.00. This rate is significantly higher than the statutory minimum for over 25s of £7.83 per hour introduced in April 2018.

Positively impacting Modern Apprentices and contractors with the College, the real Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, calculated according to the real costs of living.

Moira Jarvie and Collette Bradley, Unison representatives at New College Lanarkshire, said: “UNISON is pleased that New College Lanarkshire has now achieved Living Wage Accreditation in line with the National Agreement with Support Staff Unions to do so.

“We commend the College for finding a way to ensure that the low paid staff are now being paid the Living Wage without further delay. We urge other Colleges in the sector to follow this example and ensure Living Wage Accreditation comes with immediate payment for the workers concerned.

Martin McGuire, Principal and CEO at New College Lanarkshire, reaffirmed the College’s commitment to its employees, saying: “Being accredited as a Living Wage employer demonstrates our commitment to every single person who works at New College Lanarkshire and adds to its success.”

Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance said: “The real Living Wage is one of the key tools at our disposal to help make an impact on levels of in-work poverty in Scotland.

“There is a strong business case for paying the real Living Wage; but crucially it allows those in work to become more included in society, better provide for their families, and feel that their value and hard work is recognised by their employer.

“We are delighted to congratulate New College Lanarkshire on becoming a Living Wage employer. I hope more organisations follow their lead by becoming accredited”.

Julie McGahan, Living Wage Scotland Manager said: “We are delighted to welcome New College Lanarkshire to the Living Wage movement.

“We are a movement of over 1300 Scottish employers who together want to go further than the government minimum to make sure that all their staff earn enough to live on. We have lots of smaller employers as well as larger and iconic Scottish employers like SSE, Standard Life, Barrs, Mackies, ScotRail, D.C. Thomson and many more.

“These businesses recognise that the Living Wage accreditation is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like New College Lanarkshire join us, because they too believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay."